The Chill of Retribution
Chapter Two
Draco woke the next day after too few hours of sleep and removed the evidence of his tiredness with a few handy spells his mother taught him.
The slight redness and puffiness around his eyes is spelled away now and his house sat around him looking thoroughly chastised in the Great Hall.
He had ranted at length to them the night before and then written a neat report of the events. His letter had been owled to his Mother before he slept and he knew it would have been shown to The Dark Lord by now.
He knows they will all receive a summons from The Dark Lord that night and he can't help the creeping fear that is building in his chest, not that he would allow anyone to see it.
His report will be received one of two ways, both of them with fury. The only thing left to be seen is whether it will be fury with him for saving Potter, which he believes unlikely but who can ever really predict how The Dark Lord will react, or with his house members for disobeying orders and attacking Potter.
Nott won't stop looking at him with fear visible in his own eyes every few seconds and he's not the only one. All of the seventh year is the same, several from younger years too.
Draco smirks as he looks over them all. It's good to be the top dog again.
It's almost enough to cover his discomfort when he looks automatically over at the Gryffindor table. They are all down cast and worried looks cover every face there, from first to seventh year. It much the same on the other two house tables and Draco can't help but feel a small start of surprise.
He had always known Potter was popular (and hated it), especially since fifth year and the revealing of The Dark Lord's true return. Apparently, learning that their saviour had been telling the truth all along and fighting for them, despite the treatment he had received at the hands of the tabloids and the public, had earned most peoples undying loyalty.
Potter lack of self-confidence won't allow him to see the loyalty he now controlled though, probably wouldn't believe it unless every single person was to swear an oath to him.
Draco concealed a sigh as he returned his attention to his breakfast, he really wasn't looking forward to that night.
The summons came as expected just after curfew and Draco collected them all together.
His mother had sent him a portkey at dinner that night, all they needed to do was get outside of the castle itself to activate it. Portkeys worked on the grounds but not in the castle.
Only moments later he was leading the way through the dungeons to one of the rarely used side doors and portkeying away.
The Dark Lord wasn't at Malfoy Manor any longer, thankfully. His new residence appeared to be near a muggle village, of all things.
It was a large muggle house, probably a Manor in its own right, although smaller that the Malfoy Manor.
Draco calmly led the way to the door and greeted the Death Eater guarding the door with a haughty sneer as he passed through. Inside though, he was a mass of quivering trepidation.
His group followed him silently and copied his moves as he crawled forward and kissed The Dark Lord's hem. Most of them had only been in The Dark Lord's presence once, when they were Marked, unlike himself, so they followed his lead.
"I have heard some distressing news, my most faithful." The Dark Lord said, apparently directing his words to the group of adults who stood, cloaked and masked, around in a circle. "Those who swore to follow my words, my commands, my beliefs, seem to be under the misconception that those very words are open to personal interpretation."
"My Lord! Please, we only-"
"Crucio." Draco let his eyes roll unseen behind his own mask, Nott obviously hadn't been to many meetings. He would probably be one of, if not the, first to die from his year group, he had no self-control.
Draco couldn't find it in himself to care too much, he had never got on well with Nott.
The rest of the meeting passed in a similar fashion, with The Dark Lord punishing each of the Hogwarts students until he reached Draco.
"And the young Lord Malfoy. I am... pleased with your actions, despite your various failings through the years, you at least manage to remember my orders and attempt to follow them. They," Draco follows the flick of fingers to his school mates, "shall follow your lead from now. Perhaps they will learn the meaning of obedience."
Draco hurriedly fell to his knees once more and crawled forward to thank his Master. His skin crawled from the touch of the dirty floor and he felt a creeping resentment climb up inside him at the action and words, even as he feels a small flush of pride.
It hadn't been too long ago that he had still believed in the monster in front of him and the cause he led. He had wanted nothing more than to please his Lord back then.
He knew what The Dark Lord had meant, he had meant for Draco to keep his fellow students in their place, by liberal use of curses. Draco felt sick at the thought of it, he'd had enough of pain and torture to last him a life time.
It was good not to have to worry about the actions of his house mates any longer, they wouldn't think of crossing him now, but at the same time... all he wanted was to be left alone. He wanted the chance to survive this war and it wouldn't happen if people kept sucking him up in it.
He was beginning to realise more with each passing day just how much he hated The Dark Lord but he didn't like the Light any better, not Dumbledore at least. Potter he could probably put up with, at least Potter wasn't the kind to kill or sacrifice his allies.
For now he would have to keep his current position, sitting on the fence, not on one side or the other, just hoping for The Dark Lord's soon demise.
He and the other students were dismissed before the end of the meeting and portkeyed back to the castle after an absence of only a couple of hours.
"It's late. Everyone to bed." he ordered when it looked like Nott would stay in the common room and sneered when it looked like he would argue. "Do you want another taste of the Cruciatus?"
Nott slunk away without a word and Draco followed him with another sneer, chasing a few younger years to their beds as well.
He sank gratefully into his bed and put up his usual wards, to lock his curtains and keep his dorm mates out.
He ran through his Occlumency exorcises to calm his mind and fell into an exhausted sleep minutes later.
The next morning Draco thanked every magical being and deity he could think of that it was a Saturday.
"From now on, every member of this house is to be civil, at the least, with the other houses. Even Gryffindor." Draco stated calmly as he stood before his assembled house, "We will be of no use to The Dark Lord if we are ostracised and completely distrusted by the whole school."
He paused a second to let his words sink in, they weren't the real reason but they sounded good. Honestly, he had just had enough of the fighting. Perhaps if he could stop it now, in a few years time it would really stop and the lack of resentment would stop the younger kids from running to The Dark Lord.
It wouldn't help him but he hoped to help the younger students, despite the way he was viewed by the school, he was actually quite fond of the youngsters. He assigned his softer feelings for them to the fact he was an only child and they were the closest he could get to siblings.
"There is no be no cursing, hexing or jinxing, we will be polite at all times." he glared sternly at them for a moment before waving them away in dismissal.
"Draco?" a single first year was all that was left of the crowd. "Can I talk to you? It's just... I know we've only been here a week and I should give it time but... I, I miss..."
Draco allowed his expression to soften as he sat beside the young boy looking up at him.
"Home? Your parents?" Draco asked gently. The thought that the Gryffindors would never believe him to be the same person they knew, floated through his mind, as it did every time he comforted a younger student. He continued when he received a nod, "So did I, but you will get used to it and the Christmas holidays aren't far away."
He allowed a small smile to cross his face as he offered a chocolate frog to the little boy and sat speaking with him for a short while.
He crept out of the dormitory late that night.
He had managed to sleep for an hour before he was woken by nightmares.
He wrapped a thick warm cloak around his shoulder, his pyjamas wouldn't be anywhere near enough protection from the chill.
He feet led him through the dungeon corridors without thought of a destination, therefore it was somewhat surprising to find himself stood at the entrance to the dungeons.
He debated over where he wanted to go for a long while before shrugging and letting his feet carry him forwards.
He walked up stairs and along halls silently, listening carefully for the sounds of Filch or a teacher until he pushed open the doors to the Hospital Wing.
Potter's bed was at the other end of the wing, judging by the only drawn curtains and Draco quietly slipped between the join.
He stopped still at the sight before him.
Snape was sat in the chair beside the bed, his head was pillowed on the edge of the bed asleep and a hand lay next to the motionless one of The-Boy-Who-Lived.
Snape's face was lined with exhaustion and creased with worry.
He stood and watched the scene as the fact sunk in that Snape really was the spy. This proved it as far as Draco was concerned.
He wondered how long Snape had been a spy for and what had changed his loyalty.
The reasons didn't matter too much, it just meant that he really could trust Snape if he ever wanted to talk.
The next nine weeks passed quick.
Classes were hard, it was N.E.W.T. year and all the professors seemed determined to work them as much as possible.
The Slytherins were mostly following his orders and playing nice with the other houses. Only his own year had given him some trouble but he had quickly quelled it with the use of a few Crucios.
The Great Hall was buzzing with the news that Potter had finally woken up and Snape was looking less haggard at the head table.
Potter continued unconsciousness had been a source of worry among all the staff and even though they had never given any indication, bar their looks of worry, so had much of the student body.
He had confronted Snape about his beliefs only two weeks ago.
"Good evening, Uncle Severus." Draco had said as he walked into Snape's office and closed the door behind him.
"Draco." Snape had replied curtly as he looked up from his marking.
"I wondered if I could speak with you?"
"Very well." Snape had raised a questioning brow as he locked his office door and led Draco through to his private sitting room.
"How long have you been a spy for?" he asked deciding this conversation would probably be easier spoken bluntly instead of with the usual sliding around the topic and sneaky attempts to extract information.
"If you doubt my loyalty, Draco, you know you should take your suspicions to The Dark Lord." Snape had replied calmly as he retrieved two glasses of an amber liquid.
"Undoubtedly." Draco sipped his brandy, "But, I think that would be unlikely to be to my benefit. You don't truly follow The Dark Lord. You can't, not with how much you care for Potter."
"Must I remind you of my continual loathing of that inept and arrogant boy?" Snape drawled without batting an eyelid.
"Not in the slightest, Uncle Severus. But I can see no reason, bar some sort of affection, for you to spend your nights sat in the chair at his bedside." Draco smirked with a raised brow, actually amused by his Godfather.
"What do you want, Draco?" Snape sneered not bothering to deny the accusation any further.
"To know why you changed your mind and how long ago."
"You know that should any such admission from myself would result in death, should The Dark Lord hear of it." Snape said without emotion, his face the perfect mask.
"I, Draco Malfoy, hereby swear that I shall not repeat, by spoke or written word, nor by thought, anything I should learn while in this room."
Draco couldn't help the smirk that blossomed as Snape raised an incredulous eyebrow.
"Since a month before the death of the Potters and for that very reason." his Godfather had slowly said.
"The Potters?" Draco had parroted before he could help himself.
"Lily Potter nee Evens, more precisely. We were... friends in our youth. As your Father has no doubt mentioned I had very few during my school years and she was... dear to me."
Draco let that settle in, his Father hadn't ever mentioned any such thing but he could believe it. Snape wasn't exactly known for being the friendliest of people and he honestly doubted the man had many friends even now.
"Father said once that you had earned our Lord's trust many years ago, by informing him of a prophecy. A prophecy about a child whom would threaten him, it lead him to..."
Draco broke off as he realised just what had happened. Snape had been a loyal follower and reported what he hear, only to have that very loyalty turned on him and used to kill one of his very few friends.
Draco would have turned to the other side too.
It was astounding that Snape had been a traitor for sixteen years, not only an inner circle member but The Dark Lord's most trusted. How had he managed it?
Snape didn't reply to his statement but he did barely nod his head in acknowledgement.
Things between them had been easier since then. Draco had been holding some resentment for his Godfather, for what he had thought the previous year to be an attempt to at the glory of taking over Hogwarts and killing Dumbledore, even if he didn't want to do the latter.
Now, he was back on much better terms with the man he had looked up to for so long and now admired more than ever.
tbc...
Thanks for the ideas. Any more? Please? ^_^
Duana xxx